Major Requirements

Biological sciences majors are enrolled in either the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences or the College of Arts and Sciences. The requirements of the major itself are identical in both colleges, although the individual requirements of the two colleges will result in biological sciences majors taking somewhat different overall undergraduate programs.

Students can tailor their individual academic goals by selecting the college of enrollment, one of 14 biology concentrations, and specific courses to meet requirements. Biological sciences students are broadly educated in chemistry, physics and mathematics while developing an excellent foundation in biology from our entry-level biology courses and more advanced courses in genetics and biochemistry. Students who wish to graduate with honors must apply to the Biology Honors Program in the second semester of their junior year. Students must maintain a minimum 3.0 cumulative and science/math grade point average and write a thesis based on original research conducted under the direct guidance of a Cornell faculty member.

» View the Biology Major Requirements for 2020-2021

 

Concentration Requirements

All Biological Sciences Majors must declare a concentration. The concentration provides students with the opportunity to specialize in a particular biological discipline or, in the case of the General Biology concentration, take upper-level courses from multiple areas in biology. Concentrations are selected from the list below.

The departments of Biological Statistics and Computational Biology, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Neurobiology & Behavior, Plant Biology, and Biomedical Sciences participate in the major, as does the Division of Nutritional Sciences.